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INTRODUCTION

1.1 NANOFILTRATION

Nanofiltration is a relatively recent membrane filtration process used most often with
low total dissolved solids water such as surface water and fresh groundwater, with the
purpose of softening (polyvalent cation removal) and removal of disinfection by-product
precursors such as natural organic matter and synthetic organic matter.

Nanofiltration is also becoming more widely used in food processing applications

such as dairy, for simultaneous concentration and partial (monovalent ion) demineralisation.
The term membrane filtration describes a family of separation methods. The basic principle
is to use semi-permeable membranes to separate fluids, gases, particles and/or solutes.
Membranes are usually shaped as a thin film, which allows transport of some materials, but
not all. For separations from the water phase the membrane is water-permeable, but less
permeable to solutes and other particles depending on their size and to some degree other
properties. All living organisms rely on natural membrane selective transport of solutes in to
and out of biological cells. Membranes are the active barriers in organs like kidneys and the
stomach. Although membrane filtration is a relatively new family of methods for technical
filtration, the principles of most methods have been known for some time.

Most of the people use advance appliances but, only a few of them are familiar about
technology used in operating those appliances. Commercial Nano Filtration System is also a
one of the popular system used for several applications including water purify

1.2 Types of membrane processes,

Microfiltration

Ultrafiltration.

Nano filtration.

Reverse Osmosis.

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1.3 Type of membrane

1.3.1 Spiral wound module

module are standardized design, available in a range of standard diameters (2.5, 4

an Spiral wound modules are the most commonly used style of d 8) to fit standard pressure
vessel that can hold several modules in series connected by O-rings.

The module uses flat sheets wrapped around a central tube. The membranes are glued
along three edges over a permeate spacer to form leaves. The permeate spacer supports the
membrane and conducts the permeate to the central permeate tube. Between each leaf, a mesh
like feed spacer is inserted.

The reason for the mesh like dimension of the spacer is to provide a hydrodynamic
environment near the surface of the membrane that discourages concentration polarisation.
Once the leaves have been wound around the central tube, the module is wrapped in a casing
layer and caps placed on the end of the cylinder to prevent telescoping that can occur in
high flow rate and pressure conditions.

1.3.2 Tubular module

Tubular modules look similar to shell and tube heat exchangers with bundles of tubes
with the active surface of the membrane on the inside. Flow through the tubes is normally
turbulent, ensuring low concentration polarisation but also increasing energy costs.

The tubes can either be self-supporting or supported by insertion into perforated metal
tubes. This module design is limited for Nano filtration by the pressure they can withstand
before bursting, limiting the maximum flux possible. Due to both the high energy operating
costs of turbulent flow and the limiting burst pressure, tubular modules are more suited to
dirty applications where feeds have particulates such as filtering raw water to gain potable
water in the Fyne process.

The membranes can be easily cleaned through a pigging technique with foam balls are
squeezed through the tubes, scouring the caked deposits.

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 2. LITERATURE REVIEW
NF that is the widely used membrane process for water and wastewater treatment in
addition to other applications such as desalination where its application is increasing plays an
important role to partially replace RO, which reduces energy and operational costs. The
fundamentals of membrane process in general and the mechanisms of the NF process in
particular with some of its basic models were discussed and the issues and challenges of the
membrane fouling with NF applications have also been identied including the pre-treatment
options to mitigate the membrane fouling with the NF process. For the future, NF on behalf
of RO will be preferentially considered if it meets water quality requirements.

The paper has presented an analytical review of the state of the art in
scientific developments and technological solutions of Nano filtration in
drinking water treatment. The article has shown the possibilities of Nano
filtration and analysed reasons restricting its wide-scale use in drinking
water supply. It has covered new approaches to the solution of problems
related to membrane fouling. Keywords nanofiltrationmembrane fouling
identification of deposits on membranesautopsy of membranes
membrane regeneration
Nanofiltration in Drinking Water Supply.

Generally, there are four types of membrane processes. They are

microfiltration, ultrafiltration, nanofiltration and reverse osmosis.
Microfilter(MF) - Operating Pressure(psi) is less than 30. Types of materials
removed are Clay, bacteria, large viruses, suspended solids. Ultrafilter(UF)
- Operating Pressure(psi) is between 20 and 100. Types of materials
removed are Viruses, proteins, starches, colloids, silica, organics, dye and
fat. Nanofilter(NF) - Operating Pressure(psi) is between 50 and 300. Types
of materials removed are Sugar, pesticides, herbicides, divalent anions.
Reverse Osmosis(RO) - Operating Pressure(psi) is between 225 and 1000.
Types of materials removed are Monovalent salts.

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 3. METHEDOLOGY

3.1 GENERAL

Nanofiltration is a membrane filtration-based method that uses nanometer sized

cylindrical through-pores that pass through the membrane at 90. Nanofiltration membranes
have pore sizes from 1-10 nanometres, smaller than that used in microfiltration and
ultrafiltration, but just larger than that in reverse osmosis. Membranes used are predominantly
created from polymer thin films. Materials that are commonly use include polyethylene
terephthalate or metals such as aluminium. Pore dimensions are controlled by pH,
temperature and time during development with pore densities ranging from 1 to 106 pores per
cm2. Membranes made from polyethylene terephthalate and other similar materials, are
referred to as track-etch membranes, named after the way the pores on the membranes are
made. Tracking involves bombarding the polymer thin film with high energy particles.
These results in making tracks that are chemically developed into the membrane, or etched
into the membrane, which are the pores. Membranes created from metal such as alumina
membranes, are made by electrochemically growing a thin layer of aluminium oxide from
aluminium metal in an acidic medium.

3.2 DESIGN AND OPERATION

Industrial applications of membranes require hundreds to thousands of square

meters of membranes and therefore an efficient way to reduce the footprint by packing them
is required. Membranes first became commercially viable when low cost methods of housing
in modules were achieved.[8] Membranes are not self-supporting. They need to be stayed by
a porous support that can withstand the pressures required to operate the NF membrane
without hindering the performance of the membrane. To do this effectively, the module needs
to provide a channel to remove the membrane permeation and provide appropriate flow
condition that reduces the phenomena of concentration polarisation. A good design minimises
pressure losses on both the feed side and permeate side and thus energy requirements.

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Leakage of the feed into the permeate stream must also be prevented. This can be done
through either the use of permanent seals such as glue or replaceable seals such as O-rings.

3.3 CONCENTRATION POLARISATION

Concentration polarisation describes the accumulation of the species being retained

close to the surface of the membrane which reduces separation capabilities. It occurs because
the particles are convected towards the membrane with the solvent and its magnitude is the
balance between this convection caused by solvent flux and the particle transport away from
the membrane due to the concentration gradient (predominantly caused by diffusion.)
Although concentration polarisation is easily reversible, it can lead to fouling of the
membrane.

3.4 FLUX ENHANCING STRATEGIES

These strategies work to reduce the magnitude of concentration polarisation and

fouling. There is a range of techniques available however the most common is feed channel
spacers as described in spiral wound modules. All of the strategies work by increasing eddies
and generating a high shear in the flow near the membrane surface. Some of these strategies
include vibrating the membrane, rotating the membrane, having a rotor disk above the
membrane, pulsing the feed flow rate and introducing gas bubbling close to the surface of the
membrane.

3.5 CHARACTERISATION

Many different factors must be taken into account in the design of NF membranes,
since they vary so much in material, separation mechanisms, morphology and thus
application. Two important parameters should be investigated during preliminary
calculations, performance and morphology parameters.

3.6 PERFORMANCE PARAMETERS

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 Retention of both charged and uncharged solutes and permeation measurements can
be categorised into performance parameters since the performance under natural conditions
of a membrane is based on the ratio of solute retained/ permeated through the membrane.For
charged solutes, the ionic distribution of salts near the membrane-solution interface plays an
important role in determining the retention characteristic of a membrane. If the charge of the
membrane and the composition and concentration of the solution to be filtered is known, the
distribution of various salts can be found. This in turn can be combined with the known
charge of the membrane and the GibbsDonnan effect to predict the retention characteristics
for that membrane.

Uncharged solutes cannot be characterised simply by Molecular Weight Cut Off

(MWCO,) although in general an increase in molecular weight or solute size leads to an
increase in retention. The chemical structure, functional end-groups as well as pH of the
solute, all play an important role in determining the retention characteristics and as such
detailed information about the solute molecule characteristics must be known before
implementing a NF design.

3.7 MORPHOLOGY PARAMETERS

The morphology of a membrane must also be known in order to implement a

successful design of a NF system, and this is usually done by microscopy. Atomic force
microscopy (AFM) is one method used to characterise the surface roughness of a membrane
by passing a small sharp tip (<100 ) across the surface of a membrane and measuring the
resulting Van der Waals force between the atoms in the end of the tip and the surface. This is
useful as a direct correlation between surface roughness and colloidal fouling has been
developed. Correlations also exist between fouling and other morphology parameters, such as
hydrophobe, showing that the more hydrophobic a membrane is, the less prone to fouling it
is. See membrane fouling for more information.

Methods to determine the porosity of porous membranes have also been found via
permporometry, making use of differing vapour pressures to characterise the pore size and
pore size distribution within the membrane. Initially all pores in the membrane are
completely filled with a liquid and as such no permeation of a gas occurs, but after reducing
the relative vapour pressure some gaps will start to form within the pores as dictated by the
Kelvin equation. Polymeric (non-porous) membranes cannot be subjected to this

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methodology as the condensable vapour should have a negligible interaction within the
membrane.

3.8 TYPICAL FIGURES FOR INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS

Keeping in mind that NF is usually part of a composite system for purification, a

single unit is chosen based off the design specifications for the NF unit. For drinking water
purification many commercial membranes exist, coming from different chemical families,
having different structures, chemical tolerances and salt rejections and so the characterisation
must be chosen based on the chemical composition and concentration of the feed stream.

NF units in drinking water purification range from extremely low salt rejection (<5%
in 1001A membranes) to almost complete rejection (99% in 8040-TS80-TSA membranes.)
Flow rates range from 2560 m3/day for each unit, so commercial filtration requires multiple
NF units in parallel to process large quantities of feed water. The pressures required in these
units are generally between 4.5-7.5 bar.

For seawater desalination using a NF-RO system a typical process is shown below.

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 Fig.3.1 Seawater desalination using NF-RO

Because of the fact that NF permeate is rarely clean enough to be used as the final product for
drinking water and other water purification, is it commonly used as a pre-treatment step for
reverse osmosis (RO) as is shown above.

3.9 POST TREATMENT

As with other membrane based separations such as ultrafiltration, microfiltration and

reverse osmosis, post-treatment of eitherpermeate or retentate flow streams (depending on the
application) is a necessary stage in industrial NF separation prior to commercial distribution
of the product. The choice and order of unit operations employed in post-treatment is
dependent on water quality regulations and the design of the NF system. Typical NF water
purification post-treatment stages include aeration and disinfection & stabilisation.

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 Fig.3.2 membrane process

3.10 AERATION

A Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or fibre-reinforced plastic (FRP) degasifier is used to

remove dissolved gases such as carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide from the permeate
stream. This is achieved by blowing air in a counter current direction to the water falling

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through packing material in the degasifier. The air effectively strips the unwanted gases from
the water.

3.11 DISINFECTION & STABILISATION

The permeate water from a NF separation is demineralised and may be disposed to

large changes in pH, thus providing a substantial risk of corrosion in piping and other
equipment components. To increase the stability of the water, chemical addition of alkaline
solutions such as lime and caustic soda is employed. Furthermore, disinfectants such as
chlorine or chloroamine are added to the perm eate, as well as phosphate or fluoride corrosion
inhibitors in some cases. New Developments

Contemporary research in the area of Nanofiltration (NF) technology is primarily

concerned with improving the performance of NF membranes, minimising membrane fouling
and reducing energy requirements of already existing processes. One way in which
researchers are attempting to improve NF performance more specifically increase permeate
flux and lower membrane resistance is through experimentation with different membrane
materials and configurations. Thin film composite membranes (TFC), which consist of a
number of extremely thin selective layers interfacially polymerized over a microporous
substrate, have had the most commercial success in industrial membrane applications due to
the capability of optimizing the selectivity and permeability of each individual layer. Recent
research has shown that the addition of nanotechnology materials such as
electrospunnanofibrous membrane layers (ENMs) to conventional TFC membranes results in
an enhanced permeate flux. This has been attributed to inherent properties of ENMs that
favour flux, namely their interconnected pore structure, high porosity and low transmembrane
pressure. A recently developed membrane configuration which offers a more energy efficient
alternative to the commonly used spiral wound arrangement is the hollow fibre membrane.
This format has the advantage of requiring significantly less pre-treatment than spiral wound
membranes, as solids introduced in the feed are displaced effectively during backwash or
flushing. As a result, membrane fouling and pre-treatment energy costs are reduced.
Extensive research has also been conducted on the potential use of Titanium Dioxide (TiO2,
titania) nanoparticles for membrane fouling reduction. This method involves applying a
nonporous coating of titania onto the membrane surface. Internal fouling/pore blockage of the
membrane is resisted due to the nonporosity of the coating, whilst the superhydrophilic nature

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of titania provides resistance to surface fouling by reducing adhesion of emulsified oil on the
membrane surface.

3.12 RANGE OF APPLICATIONS

Historically, nanofiltration and other membrane technology used for molecular

separation was applied entirely on aqueous systems.
The original uses for nanofiltration were water treatment and in particular water
softening. Nanofilters can soften water by retaining scale-forming, hydrated
divalent ions (e.g. Ca2+, Mg2+) while passing smaller hydrated monovalent ions .
In recent years, the use of nanofiltration has been extended into other industries such
as milk and juice production.
Research and development in solvent-stable membranes has allowed the application
for nanofiltration membranes to extend into new areas such as pharmaceuticals, fine
chemicals, and flavour and fragrance industries.
Development in organic solvent nanofiltration technology and commercialization of
membranes used has extended possibilities for applications in a variety of organic
solvents ranging from non-polar through polar to polar aprotic.

3.12.1 ADVANTAGES

One of the main advantages of nanofiltration as a method of softening water is that

during the process of retaining calcium and magnesium ions while passing smaller
hydrated monovalent ions, filtration is performed without adding extra sodium ions, as
used in ion exchangers.
Many separation processes do not operate at room temperature (e.g. distillation), which
greatly increases the cost of the process when continuous heating or cooling is applied.
Performing gentle molecular separation is linked with nanofiltration that is often not
included with other forms of separation processes (centrifugation).
These are two of the main benefits that are associated with nanofiltration. Nanofiltration
has a very favorable benefit of being able to process large volumes and continuously
produce streams of products.
Still, Nanofiltration is the least used method of membrane filtration in industry as the
membrane pores sizes are limited to only a few nanometers..

3.12.2 DISADVANTAGE

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 A main disadvantage associated with nanotechnology, as with all membrane filter
technology, is the cost and maintenance of the membranes used. ]Nanofiltration
membranes are an expensive part of the process.
Repairs and replacement of membranes is dependent on total dissolved solids, flow rate
and components of the feed. With nanofiltration being used across various industries,
only an estimation of replacement frequency can be used. This causes nanofilters to be
replaced a short time before or after their prime usage is complete.

3.13.3 BENEFITS OF NANOFILTRATION

Low cost of operation.

Low energy cost.
Lower discharge and less waste water than typical Reverse Osmosis system.
Reduction of Heavy Metals (removes 95%).
Reduction of water hardness.
Reduction / Removal of viruses, bacteria, VOCs, and Pesticide

3. CONCLUSIONS

Nanofiltration can be used for removal of a wide range of pollutants from

groundwater and surface water in view of drinking water production. Softening and NOM-
removal are major applications, but NF is frequently applied for the combined removal of
NOM, micropollutants, pesticides, arsenic, iron, heavy metals, sulphate, nitrate and bacteria
and viruses. Reduced THM-formation potential can also be achieved. Full-scale installations
have proven the reliability of NF in these areas.

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 The results of this study indicate that the Fyne process nanofiltration system could
be used at very small (serving 25500 people) public water systems to reduce colour and
microbial pathogens in drinking water. The TOC removal exhibited by the nanofiltration
membranes would also reduce the formation of DBPs after chlorination.

REFERANCE

1. Baker, J., Stephenson, T., Dard, S., and Cote, P.: Characterisation of fouling of
nanoltration membranes used treat surface waters, Environ. Technol., 16, 977985 , 1995.

2. Ben Aim, R. and Semmens, M. J.: Membrane bioreactors for wastewater treatment and
reuse: a success story, Proceedings and key-note speech of the IWA-Asian Environmental
Technology Conference, Singapore, IWA, 2001.

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 3. Ben Aim, R., Liu, M. G., and Vigneswaran, S.: Recent development of membrane
processes for water and wastewater treatment, Water Sci. Technol., 27, 141149, 1993.

4. Bowen, W. R. and Mukhtar, H.: Characterisation and prediction of separation

performance on nanoltration membranes, J. Membrane Sci., 112, 263274, 1996. Bowen,
W. R. and Welfoot, J. S.: Modelling the performance of membrane nanoltration critical
assessment and model development, Chem. Eng. Sci., 57, 11211137, 2002.

5. Bowen, W. R., Welfoot, J. S., and Williams, P. M.: Linearized transport model for
nanoltration: development and assessment, AIChE J., 48, 760772, 2002.

6. Braghetta, A.: The inuence of solution chemistry and operating conditions on

nanoltration of charged and uncharged organic macromolecules, Dissertation, University of
North Carolina, USA, 1995.

7. Cadotte, J., Forester, R., Kim, M., Petersen, R., and Stocker, T.: Nanoltration membranes
broaden the use of membrane separation technology, Desalination, 70, 7788, 1988

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